Related Event: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Concert at Club NokiaSaturday, April 14, 7:30 p.m.SPECIAL DISCOUNT FOR USC STUDENTS:USC students who register for the conference can purchase discounted tickets for the Club Nokia concert for $20 each (two-ticket limit per USC student ID). Instructions will be provided after you sign up for the conference. For concert details, see below or click here.

Born Woodrow Wilson Guthrie in 1912, Woody Guthrie became the nation’s most recognizable and important folk singer before the folk revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. A conference and concert will mark the centennial of his birth and his lasting significance.

THE CONFERENCE:Distinguished scholars, musicians and writers will come together for a day-long conference with discussions and performances that will explore Woody Guthrie’s rise to fame in Depression-era Los Angeles. They will discuss Guthrie’s itinerant wanderings through California and the far West, the Dust Bowl culture he drew upon in his songs of commentary and protest, and the backdrop of Los Angeles at the dawn of the Second World War.

11:45 a.m.: Musical PerformanceStudents from the USC Thornton School of Music

12 to 1 p.m.: Lunch Break (on your own)

1 p.m.: Musical PerformanceStudents from the USC Thornton School of Music

1:15 to 2:15 p.m.: L.A. and Woody GuthrieDarryl Holter, ModeratorRadio and the Evangelical Crowd in 1930s L.A.—Philip Goff, Indiana University/Purdue UniversitySound and Fury: Talkie Technology and Labor Unrest in the L.A. Film Industry in the 1930s—Emily Thompson, Princeton University

2:15 to 3 p.m.: Woody’s Influences across Space and RaceRamblin’ in Black and White: Race and Migration in the Works of Woody Guthrie—Dan Cady, Cal State Fresno, and Doug Flamming, Georgia Tech

4:30 p.m.: Musical PerformanceStudents from the USC Thornton School of Music

4:45 to 5:15 p.m.: Talking About WoodyBob Santelli Interview with Special Guest

THE CONCERT:Following the conference, a concert will be held at Club Nokia at L.A. Live on Saturday, April 14, at 7:30 p.m. with Jackson Browne, Crosby and Nash, Dawes, John Doe, Richie Furay, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Morello, Joel Rafael and Rob Wasserman. Ticket prices range from $39.50 to $99.50. For info on purchasing tickets, click here.

The celebration is a collaborative effort between the GRAMMY Museum, the Woody Guthrie Archives and four distinguished universities: University of Tulsa, Brooklyn College, Pennsylvania State University and USC.